A peek at the new Bikenomics book

Everyday Bicycling may be barely out the gate, but I’ve already been hard at work for some time on the next book.

The writing process has not been pretty (albeit it’s been easier the second time around). But the cover is freaking gorgeous. I can’t stop looking at it. I swear it makes the words come easier. And I just got permission to share it with you:

So good. It’s designed by Joe Biel, with homage and apologies to an old Japanese book cover that I found while scouring the Internet for book cover inspiration one day.

A little more about the book itself: This is the real deal, like Everyday Bicycling, a full-sized book with a spine and a page count in the hundreds rather than the dozens, published by someone who is not me. It shares a title and a big idea, though not much more than that, with the pocket-sized book I wrote and published on a whim a couple of years ago (the cover on that one is also designed by Joe … pro tip: you haven’t really seen it ’til you’ve seen the inside covers, too).

Writing is a struggle, mostly with myself. I am developing all sorts of ways to manage the process (the big one: turning off the Internet). But the content itself is a delight to work with. This is a book that wants to be written. It can’t believe it hasn’t been written yet. Its parts are all there: the staggering math of bicycle transportation, a flood of emerging studies, more flabbergasting personal stories and case studies than I can choose between, and — best of all — a larger-than-life narrative about the way things are now, the way things could be, and what we are already successfully doing about it.

This book is making me believe in it. This book is making me believe in this country and in the future of humanity. In light of the rest of the news lately, that’s damn necessary.

The only bad news — it doesn’t come out til February 1, 2014 December 1, 2013. If you can’t wait to pre-order it, the publisher has that option available already. Mark your calendars. More updates to come.

About Elly

Elly Blue has been getting around by bicycle since 1998, and writing about bicycle transportation since 2006. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her partner, dog, cat, and a large number of unusual bikes. When she isn't writing, she spends her time seeking out and publishing other peoples' work about different aspects of bicycling.

So happy to hear that Bikenomics will be next in line for publishing as a full-size book. When people in city government are very concerned about money, it’s always a positive to be able to state my case in terms of positive financial ramifications :)